*this is my personal favorite VH album. Every song on it is a classic gem. This was also my very first cassette tape I got when I was a kid...unfortunatly, this is the last VH full length album that featured David Lee Roth until 2012 and is the final full length album that features all 4 original members.*

Despite the band's success, a creative rift had begun developing between Roth and Eddie Van Halen early on. David was mainly interested in lighthearted songs about partying and sex (along the lines of Aerosmith and AC/DC), while Eddie wanted more serious lyrical depth. While the band's first two albums contained nothing but "fun" songs, their third one (Women and Children First) adopted a more somber tone. Also, Eddie Van Halen had constructed his own recording studio at home during 1983, which led to an argument with the rest of the band since it allowed him to develop songs without their input. Furthermore, he began to move towards a more radio-friendly pop direction with keyboards and synthesizers while Roth opposed this and felt that the band should play straight hard rock with only guitars and drums. Their sixth album, 1984, was a critical and commercial success but also continued the move towards mainstream pop music. Roth formally parted ways with his bandmates on April 1, 1985

Before the next album was released, Van Halen had considerable difficulty finding a replacement for the popular David Lee Roth. To make matters worse, Warner Bros. Records advised them to discontinue the Van Halen name; in the beginning of 1986, Eddie and Alex Van Halen formally refused. The trio even considered a series of temporary singers to replace Roth, including Patty Smyth, Eric Martin and Jimmy Barnes. However in July 1985, Eddie met former Montrose singer Sammy Hagar while getting a mechanic to work on his Lamborghini. The pair hit it off and the new singer and band immediately began work on new songs.[1]Van Halen went to work on the album in November 1985; it would be finished in February 1986, just one month before its release.

Internal disputes eventually led to Hagar's departure from the band in June 1996. Hagar disagreed with a decision to record two new tracks for the soundtrack to the film Twister, after the band had agreed to take time off following their 1995 world tour. Hagar was also opposed to the issuance of a greatest hits record at that point in the band's career. These two items were pushed by Van Halen's new manager Ray Danniels, Alex Van Halen's brother-in-law, brought in after the death of their longtime manager Ed Leffler. Hagar wanted instead to record a new studio album, but only after Eddie, Alex, and Hagar's pregnant wife had all dealt with their respective medical issues.

Although there are several versions of how the split occurred, Hagar has stated that the final straw came when he was with his wife in Hawaii, where they had arranged for a natural delivery of the baby, and Eddie wanted him back in the studio in California. Hagar claimed to have flown to Los Angeles with his wife only to discover that she could not fly back to Hawaii. In the ensuing argument, he claims that he was fired. Eddie, on the other hand, says that Hagar quit. The end came when Eddie started to work with former lead singer David Lee Roth instead of Hagar, and two new songs were made with Roth for the greatest hits album Best of Volume I.

When Van Halen again parted ways with Roth, instead of rehiring Hagar, the band hired Gary Cherone, the former lead singer of Extreme, also managed by Danniels, also making one of the worst albums of all time.... it is LITERALLY taking a cannon shot to the gut.

1998 VAN HALEN III

NEWORLDWITHOUT YOUONE I WANTFROM AFARDIRTY WATER DOGONCEFIRE IN THE HOLEJOSEPHINAYEAR TO THE DAYPRIMARYBALLOT OR THE BULLETHOW MANY SAY I

The only album to feature Gary Cherone on vocals. No songs from this album have currently made it to any Greatest Hits albums.Sammy Hagar reunited with Van Halen, and the band subsequently recorded three new tracks to include on the new Greatest Hits album...2004 BEST OF BOTH WORLDS (greatest hits)

In 2007, Van Halen reunited with original singer David Lee Roth, who had left the band in 1985, for a tour in North America, which would also add as the bassist Wolfgang Van Halen, son of guitarist Eddie Van Halen. The tour, which lasted for 74 shows between September 2007 and June 2008, was critically and commercially successful, earning over $93 million. While in 2009 Eddie declared in an interview that "we might not record something new" due to the new songs recorded for the 2004 compilation Best of Both Worlds being ignored by fans and critics alike, and the possible frustration of "record[ing] a new album when people are only going to complain about it or ignore it or somebody is going to download it from the internet for free", the guitarist eventually decided that "we’re doing this for us, too", particularly as Wolfgang was enthusiastic about creating a Van Halen record.Eddie, Wolfgang and Alex Van Halen started jam sessions at Eddie's own 5150 Studios just three months after the tour ended, and eventually started considering a new record, which would go through old unfinished tracks found in the band's archives. Wolfgang picked out demos and unused tunes which he liked, and the trio started changing them around and writing new parts. The first one was "She's the Woman", turned into a demo in August 2009. The demo was sent along with two other reworked tracks, “Let’s Get Rockin’” - later renamed “Outta Space” - and “Bullethead", to Roth, who enjoyed the songs and decided to join the project.Wolfgang’s original idea for the album was to be a collection of B-sides along with three reworked songs, showcasing hardcore songs such as “Drop Dead Legs” and “Girl Gone Bad”. Eventually the band found more songs to work on at the archive, and Eddie begun composing new tracks, with the band ending up recording demos for 35 songs.2012 A DIFFERENT KIND OF TRUTH

Zero[edit]1976 Gene Simmons funded demo. Available on bootleg."On Fire" (re-recorded for Van Halen)"Woman in Love""House Of Pain" (reworked and re-recorded for 1984)"Runnin' With the Devil" (re-recorded for Van Halen)"She's the Woman" (reworked and re-recorded for A Different Kind of Truth)"Let's Get Rockin'" (reworked and re-recorded as "Outta Space" on A Different Kind of Truth)"Big Trouble" (reworked and re-recorded as "Big River" on A Different Kind of Truth)"Somebody Get Me a Doctor" (re-recorded for Van Halen II)"Babe, Don't Leave Me Alone""Put Out the Lights" (reworked and re-recorded as "Beats Workin'" on A Different Kind of Truth)

Warner Brothers demos1977 demos for Warner Brothers. Available on bootleg."Let's Get Rockin'" (reworked and re-recorded as "Outta Space" on A Different Kind of Truth)"We Die Bold""Voodoo Queen" (reworked and re-recorded as "Mean Street" on Fair Warning)"Little Dreamer" (re-recorded on Van Halen)"Babe Don't Leave Me Alone""Bring On The Girls" (reworked and re-recorded as "Beautiful Girls" on Van Halen II)"Young & Wild""House Of Pain" (re-recorded on 1984)"On Fire" (re-recorded for Van Halen)"Last Night" (reworked and re-recorded as "Hang 'Em High" on Diver Down)"Light In The Sky""Get The Show On The Road" (reworked and re-recorded as "Romeo Delight" on Women and Children First)"D.O.A." (re-recorded for Van Halen II)"Somebody Get Me A Doctor" (re-recorded for Van Halen II)"Show Your Love (I'm The One)" (re-recorded as "I'm The One" on Van Halen)"She's The Woman" (reworked and re-recorded on A Different Kind of Truth)"I Wanna Be Your Lover""Feel Your Love Tonight" (re-recorded on Van Halen)"In A Simple Rhyme" (re-recorded on Women and Children First)"Runnin' With The Devil" (re-recorded on Van Halen)"Piece Of Mind""You Really Got Me" (re-recorded on Van Halen)"Put Out The Lights" (reworked and re-recorded as "Beats Workin'" on A Different Kind of Truth)"Big Trouble" (reworked and re-recorded as "Big River" on A Different Kind of Truth)"Happy Trails" (re-recorded on Diver Down)

1984 outtakes"5150 Special""Anytime, Any place""Anything To Make It Right""Baritone Slide""Forget 1""Lie To You""Ripley" (instrumental) (reworked and re-recorded as "Blood and Fire" on A Different Kind of Truth, with vocals)

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Gathering wood is also a great bonding experience - SIXSHOTI'm getting more ass than a donkey farm - SIXSHOT (again)You twist around in the air and assault the room with your unmentionable! - SOPIt's so weird around here Dora wont even explore it-RAVAGEhas anyone realized yet that SOP sounds an awful lot like SOB? - DETECTIVE BARRICADE